Circle Audio Visual is a growing integrator of video conferencing systems, large format displays, high fidelity audio systems, integrated office controllers and cloud communications systems. They support larger integrators with specialist teams and certified individuals on a consultant basis to lead and define projects with their end clients.
Circle works with some of the leading financial and tech companies in the City of London, and other prestigious clients across Europe. As such, they required a digital presence that reflected the calibre of their work and client base, and with lead generation placed at the forefront of the content strategy.
The experts at Circle and I collaborated over a six month strategic and creative process to develop and launch an entirely new digital brand and site for the business to market through.
During the UX audit we verified that despite their existing website being functional and easy to navigate, there was little storytelling or brand presence on any of the pages. This lack of UX thinking or visual design standard did not align with the status of the clients or service that Circle was providing. Circle's original web presence wasn’t optimised for performance, or to be responsive, with a non-existent mobile experience and no data capturing or visual representation of the services offered.
Increase the performance and accessibility of the site, with responsive designs, an updated CMS system, and content strategy that allowed for both visual and technical storytelling. Refine their visual language to work in a digital context, translate the existing brand into interfaces that perform across all devices and browsers, and align with the standard of experience and usability Circle provides for its clients.
Accessibility
The team's main concern throughout the projects was accessibility, wanting to take advantage of new ‘Dark UI’ trends, but maintain usability standards for functional aspects of the interface and brand. This also included making the platform responsive/mobile-first, catering for the majority of mobile users, and improving performance and site loading times.
During the branding process, we selected lighter tones to ensure appropriate contrast. We also tested font-weight and kerning, opting for lighter fonts to reduce the bold and halo effects of light text on dark backgrounds for visually impaired users. To reduce ‘colour vibration’ of the text (a visual effect that occurs when light text over-contrasts with darker backgrounds), we reduced the opacity of text depending on its hierarchy.
Elevation
We opted to use dark grey as a canvas over black, not only to reduce eye strain, but to be able to express a wider range of colour, elevation, and depth. We used elevation, in the form of drop shadows and semi-transparent overlays to denote interactable areas, such as form fields and CTAs. The ability to display elevation was also translated into interactions, allowing for subtle latency animations and effects by visually lifting or dropping the layer in question.
StoryTelling
I pushed the use of imagery in the redesign, allowing the brand to develop a stronger visual narrative. This gave greater context to the work the company undertook, and its quality.
Brand Activation
I assisted the inhouse production team with some basic brand activation. This gave the inhouse team the chance to align their print collateral with their new online presence and served as an internal launch of the new brand and its visual ethos.
Circle's brand launch has been received positively, with glowing feedback from clients and employees alike. The realisation of Circle's professional ethos and technical capabilities has assisted sales, lead generation and given a greater sense of identity to the teams planted in larger integrators.
Improved visual standards, usability, brand visibility, and load times have allowed stakeholders to leverage the website as a marketing tool, rather than something to avoid at pitches. As the site now reflects the technical capabilities of Circle's inhouse software design teams, the company is now able to market their interface design and CX services.
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